Arrogant-class cruiser
|Class before= |Class after= |Cost= |Built range=1895–1900 |In service range=1898–1923 |In commission range= |Total ships completed=4 |Total ships scrapped=2 |Total ships lost=2 }} |module2= |Ship length= (p/p) (o/a) |Ship beam= |Ship draught= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=2 shafts 2 vertical triple-expansion steam engines 18 Belleville water-tube boilers |Ship speed= |Ship complement=480 |Ship armament=4 × QF 6-inch (152 mm) guns 6 × guns 8 × 12-pdr (3-inch, 76 mm) guns 3 × 3-pdr (47 mm) guns 3 submerged torpedo tubes |Ship armour=Deck: Conning tower: }} }} The Arrogant class cruiser was a class of four protected cruisers built for the British Royal Navy at the end of the 1890s. One ship, [[HMS Gladiator (1896)|HMS Gladiator]] was lost following a collision with a merchant ship in 1908, while [[HMS Vindictive (1897)|HMS Vindictive]] saw active service in the First World War, taking part in the Zeebrugge Raid in April 1918 before being sunk as a blockship during the Second Ostend Raid in May 1918. Design The 1895–96 programme of naval construction for the Royal Navy included provision for four Second-class cruisers of the Arrogant class. While most contemporary Royal Navy cruisers were intended for trade protection, the Arrogant class was designed to operate with the main battle fleet, being intended to finish off crippled enemy ships by ramming, and were originally described as "Fleet Rams".Brown 2003, pp. 162–163. To suit the class for its proposed role, the ram bow was larger and stronger than normal, and was supported by the ship's protective deck and by side armour plating covering the forward part of the ship. While the protective deck had a similar thickness ( ) to that of the preceding ''Eclipse'' class, the ship's conning tower had much thicker protection than normal, with of armour to resist close-range enemy shells. The design had a shorter hull with greater beam and an auxiliary rudder ahead of the main rudder to improve manoeuvrability (with a turning circle of compared with for the same-length Astraea class cruisers). The Arrogants were the first British second-class cruisers to use water-tube boilers, with 18 Belleville boilers feeding triple-expansion steam engines which drove two shafts, giving a speed of . The ships' main gun armament was a mixture of four guns and six guns, and a secondary armament of eight 12-pounder (76 mm) and three 3 pounder (47 mm) guns, supplemented by 5 machine guns and three torpedo tubes. The Arrogants, like many of the armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy, were often criticised by the contemporary press,Brown 2003, p. 162. with the 1896 Brassey's Naval Annual considering that the classes armament and speed were "hardly satisfactory", with unfavourable comparisons made to armoured cuisers being built for export, and ships in service with France and Germany.Brassey 1896, p. 155. The ship's armament was strengthened in 1903–04, when the existing main gun armament was replaced by a homogeneous battery of ten 6 inch guns. History The four ships were laid down at Devonport and Portsmouth naval dockyards in 1895–96, launching in 1896–97 and were completed between 1898 and 1900. [[HMS Gladiator (1896)|HMS Gladiator]] collided with the American liner [[SS Saint Paul|SS Saint Paul]] in a heavy snowstorm off the Isle of Wight on 25 April 1908, sinking with the loss of 27 men. Although Gladiator was raised in October 1908, it proved too expensive to repair, and Gladiator was sold for scrap.Gardiner and Gray 1985, p. 16. [[HMS Arrogant (1896)|HMS Arrogant]] became a submarine depot ship in 1911, while ''Furious'' was paid off in 1912, being renamed HMS Forte in 1915, serving as a hulk attached to the 'stone frigate (or shore establishment) [[HMS Vernon (shore establishment)|HMS Vernon]]. [[HMS Vindictive (1897)|HMS Vindictive]] served as a tender attached to HMS Vernon from 1912 until the outbreak of the First World War, when she returned to active service. In 1918, Vindictive was converted to an assault ship for the Zeebrugge Raid on 23 April, and following that was scuttled as a blockship during the Second Ostend Raid on 10 May 1918. Ships Notes References * * * * * External links * Arrogant Class Cruiser Category:Cruiser classes Arrogant-class cruisers Category:1890s ships